Studio Photography

Annie Leibovitz

This is Annie Leibovitz. She is considered one of the best portrait photographers of all time. She is from the USA and she developed her trademark use of bold colors and poses while at working for Rolling Stone.

“I sometimes find the surface interesting. To say that the mark of a good portrait is whether you get them or get the soul - I don't think this is possible all of the time.”

—Annie Leibovitz

Photographer Annie Leibovitz was born October 2, 1949, in Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1970 she worked for Rolling Stone magazine. Then in 1983 she started to work for the entertainment magazine Vanity Fair. In the late1980s, Leibovitz then went on to work on a number of popular advertising campaigns. From the 1990s to current, she has been publishing and showing her work at exhibitions.


She has photographed many famous people including;
 

• John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the Rolling Stone cover that was taken the day Lennon was murdered.
   
• Demi Moore has been the subject of Annie twice, featuring Moore pregnant and nude, and one showing Moore nude with a suit painted on her body.
   
• Whoopi Goldberg lying in a bath full of milk.
   
• Dolly Parton and Arnold Schwarzenegger, while he flexes his biceps behind Dolly.
   
• Queen Elizabeth II when she visited the United States in 2007.
   
• Miley Cyrus' Vanity Fair, when the singer posed half nude which lead to a lot of controversy.
  
  
• Johnny Depp and Kate Moss at the Royalton Hotel. Of a nude Kate laying on a bed while fully clothed while Johnny Depp is lying between her legs, covering her stomach.
   
• Lady Gaga for Vogue and Vanity Fair
   
• Rihanna for Vogue in 2011.

Here are some of her photography;

I love how she has captured my favorite actress looking typically good looking and interesting.


This is my favorite actor by Annie, she has portrayed him in a field in black and white. Most actors are in black and white because of their acting Resumes. Yet this is a more interesting photo, by using an animal in the photo also.
  This is clearly studio photography. Annie has used a model and edited the background in. She maybe used a backdrop/screen, to really capture the model first before she edits it. I also like the theme of what I think is Ancient Rome, with the beautiful warrior mother protecting her babies. The model is stunningly done and the overall image I like.

This is a good photograph of an Alice in Wonderland theme. She has used a model in a studio setting to either sit the girl in a box or edited
the rest of the scene into her photo. I like this image because its clever and creatively done.

Kirsty Mitchell

"Kirsty Mitchell is a famous, brilliant photographer who has exhibited in London, the Netherlands, Milan and South Korea. Kirsty's unique approach to photography draws on her origins in costume making and over a decade as a fashion designer which included internships at the studios of Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan Described as a multi-faceted artist, her experience in design and artistic direction combine to produce images of beguiling dream-like worlds, all shot in the English landscape surrounding her home. Kirsty describes her approach as ‘fantasy for real’ spending months meticulously handcrafting her characters costumes and props to coincide with the bloom of wild flowers or the extremes of our natural environments. Her four year ongoing series ‘Wonderland’ has been internationally published with features by the BBC World News, The Huffington Post, Polish Harper's Bazaar, Chinese Harper's Bazaar 'ART' , Vogue Italia , MSN and The Daily Mail. The emotionally charged project follows a deeply personal narrative in memory of Kirsty’s mother who died of cancer in 2008. The ongoing series of almost 70 photographs are influenced by the faded memories of the stories her mother read to her as child,and the fragments of book illustrations from which they came. Kirsty works as a full time artist and has recently been awarded 'Best Conceptual Photographer of 2012' by the US {Framed} Network. She has also received the honor of being made Nikon Uk's first ever Ambassador of Fine Art Photography in 2013. Kirsty is currently represented by The Morren Gallery in the Netherlands."

      Here are some of her photography;

This is a great imge where Kirsty Mitchell has
used makeup, props, hair styling, colour, and
a lot of creative ideas to portray a nice photo.
I like this because Im interesed in really imagintative photography.

This is also a great photo because I love how
Kirsty has captured the wind and movement
of the models hair. It looks overall soft and bright and noramlly I dont like the colour yellow much but this photograph changes my outlook.
Here the photographer has used a great amount of violet smoke and paint to attract attention. The model is in a garden and it seems cared for and expensive. The model also seems to be dress quiet well, with hair peices and all matching tones. I like this image because again its creative.

These two images are quiet strange, I like them but they confuse me.
I like how the costume and photo and the composition is made up. The tones and colours she has used in the right photograph stand out very well and is very interesting to see. The model is quiet symmetrical on the left. They both are from her Wonderland peice, showing how creative this photographer really is.
I suppose artifcal lighting was used in photograph 1, and more natural lighting was used in photograph 2.

David LaChapelle

 



 David LaChapelle (born March 11, 1963) is an American commercial photographer, fine-art photographer, an artist and a film director. He is best known for his photography, in which he often shows art and history. His photographic style has been described as "hyper-real and slyly subversive" and as "kitsch pop surrealism."




 
Here are some of his photographs;

This image of Cameron Diaz shows her reaching through a box, through the wall and peering into the scene. I love how its creative because it seems clever. The colours are pretty plane with tones of black and white with more colour towards the subjects face. Airbrushing and editing the photo has came across nice. The patterns are in the floor and the newspaper on the wall seems to be repeated. There also is a naked man by the models hand. There is alot going on in this scene but main focus on Diaz's face.



This is a photograph of Lady Gaga during her first moments of FAME. David LaChapelle has taken this photograph of the nude singer yet covers her in fake bubbles. I like this photograph because its different. The effects are tones of pink and they blend in with the model. I dont like how the mist around the model is quiet obvious it doesnt look nice editing. If I concentrate I can really just see the model infront of a screen, so maybe the photograph used a backdrop.










This photograph of EMINEM I find was a nice photo. I like how the colours and grafitti stand out, yet you can't see the rapper straight away. I like how the image has a fisheye effect maybe edited on or a fisheye lens was used. The photograph is a good example of David LaChapelles typical work.

This is a photo of THE BLUE MEN, its a photo of a female model with a head as the BLUE MAN, which is strange. The photo is clearly to promote something or for art.
I like this image because he has been clever here by the way of using the BLUE MAN to look deep at the person looking at the photo, how he is in the TV yet the model is acutally alive! Also how the TV is acutally at a genuine home. The home is also the location or setting for the image which is great for the theme.

This seems to be a promotion photo of DOLLYWOOD for Dolly Parton. David has used dollys body to portray Hollywood in her version. The theme is Dollywood and he has used the green on the bottom of the photo for the hills, and the blue in the sky, which splits the photo. I like this because again typical David LaChapelle.

This photo of Gwen Stefani shows her looking into a mirror with a dressing table infront of her with lights. The singer is airbrushed and wearing a pink colour or wig in her hair. I think he wanted to portray FAME here or something relating to her career, or maybe even showing a bit of her personality.

This is another image of the BLUE MEN. They seem to be entering on a vehicle with a celebration of some sort going on. There are people throwing things in the air, there is a lot of movement in the image. The colours are alive and bright. They are their symmetrical selves and the photograph has portrayed this. The car is also symmetrical and there are all sorts of different lights and lighting colours.

This image is of Kayne West and Lady Gaga. I think there are opposites here of gender, race, also containing controversy such as nudity. Kayne is caring Lady gaga and there is clearly a studio set up. The back is a backdrop and the props are a jungle on the set. Then the pair are posing and David has nicely edited it all together.

This one is one of my sort of interesting top photos from LaChapelle because in the way of how the composition of the image is. The models are opposites in gender, and there is some sort of role reversal going on. The female model seems to be the more dominant figure with a males genitals. While the man is laying down also nude showing a big eye or bubble on his head. There are trees and nature which might suggest Adam and Eve? He may of wanted to show female in society nowadays. Im not really sure what the things in the back are but the overall image is a great wonder.

This mind map shows photoshoot 1 and 2 planning and production. I am going do more mind maps each time i do another few photoshoots.


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Photoshoot  - #1

DATE - Friday 24th October 2014
SETTING - models backgarden MIDNIGHT
LIGHTING - backgarden light, artifial.
PROPS - A lot of tissue paper
CLOTHING IDEAS - Soft white party dress and white high heels
MAKEUP - Natural clubbing, night out make up
HAIR - straightened and soft

IDEAS - Wrap the tissue paper around somewhere big and wrap all the tissue paper around the model so that the model is beautiful and soft looking. Selling the dress and heels for the catologue so thats the fashion accessories. Use a female model to make the photoshoot look soft and beautiful, to attract customers for the catologue. Use some flash and some without to capture the "Whiteness" of my desired look.

WHAT I DID - Tied the tissue paper around a washing line and wrapped it up with x4 large tissue paper rolls, to create a big, soft, messy white look. Then I got my model to pose and stand inbetween the tissue while the wind was blowing, which helped the tissue fly swiftly and to show movement. Then I got my model to change dress;

CLOTHING - Black and white stripped dress with black and white heels.

HAIR - Messy 

Then I  told the model to continue posing while I shot many photos of the scene. Then, I finally got the model to re-do a more fashion looking natural make up

                                 MAKE UP - glammed fashion model look

Then I pulled all the tissue of the washing line and tied it around my model to appear as a dress. I made her pose in it and I got some fantastic shots looking like a catologue. I edited the photos on Ribbet.com and I was happy with the end results.

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Photoshoot - #2

DATE - Sunday 26th October 2014
SETTING - white Bathroom
LIGHTING - two small artifical bulbed lights
PROPS - aftershave bottles, bathroom objects

IDEAS - Place the bottles in different positions untill I find a decent set of photo's to work with. Use different lighting techniques to help find desired effect.

WHAT I DID - I placed the bottles on the white shelf. Then I turned on the shower on a cold setting, otherwise my camera would of been steamed up. Then I took the photos of the bottles while the water ran down it. I tried some slow shutter, but found that on a faster shutter was just better. I then took some photos of bathroom two bathroom products and made it look like they where for sale. I then edited all the photos on Ribbet.com.

UPDATE - I didnt use the bathroom photoshoot idea because the catalogue is Fashion and Fashion Accessories.

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Photoshoot - #3

DATE - Monday 27th October 2014
SETTING - Bedroom studio setup
LIGHTING -exsposure from outside windows, taken next to the windows.
PROPS - fake gun (not for sale in catalogue), black headpeice, eyelashes, wig.

IDEAS - Cover the model in dirt and oil, make them look tierd and worn out like Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, for inspiration. Use lady gaga album photography as inspiration, im going to use Alejandro photoshoot for ideas. Get the model also to do pose in a big fur coat and pose like a Marliyn Monroe.

WHAT I DID -I got my model to cover themself in dirt and I applied oil over the face to look like sweat. I made them wear a white tshirt with holes in that look good enough for exerice like Tomb Raider. Then they wore shorts and a fake gun and I told the model to act tierd of fighting and climbing and shot the images. I put them together on Ribbet for a better effect. I then told them to put on a fur coat and throw her head into a crouched, hidden position to make the hair look a little movement looking. Also then I applied a cross process effect to make it look more vintage and fashionable. On the Lady Gaga inspired shoot, I styled the models hair and makeup to look similar to lady gagas photographs, I then smudged makeup down their face and told them to recreate her images that I showed the model for inspiration. I edited them on Picnik.com

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Photoshoot - #4

DATE - Wednesday 29th October 2014
SETTING - Living room, Studio photography
LIGHTING - Living room lights.
PROPS - Umbrella, England Flag, Frog hat, Babys blanket

IDEAS - Get my gradmother to hold an umbrella and pose while I take some decent images. Photograph my nephew in the frog hat that I purchased from Ebay two days ago. I can surround him in blankets to get a more baby effect. Also put the england flag on the floor on my rug and lay the baby on the middle of the flag, dressed dapper.

WHAT I DID - I placed the baby blankets on the bed and placed my nephew on there. While he was wiggling around I photographed him in his frog hat, I liked the finished shot of when he covered his one eye and looked at the camera directly with the other. He looked cute so I went on to do the England theme photoshoot. Then I placed the baby on the England flag on the rug while he had a change of clothes. I shot him in sporty, cute, fashionable tracksuit for the catalogue. I then photographed my grandmother holding a geisha umbrella that I purchased from a market. She wore nice wooly clothes, and I brushed her hair over. I shot the image from the front vantage point to get her portrait. I airbrushed the image on Picnik.com and used the Bloom effect. I liked the end results.


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Photoshoot - #5

DATE - Thursday 30th October 2014
SETTING - Studio in college.
LIGHTING - Strobe lighting and other softboxs
PROPS - Sports clothing and bag, Leather jacket, Jewellery and Sunglasses,

IDEAS - Photograph the model in the tracksuit with a fitness looking pose, that matches sport. Also use the leather jacket and jewellery to portrait decent clothes for sale, with accessories.

WHAT I DID - I photoshoped the model with star effects on the sport photoshoot to show some sort of power coming of the athlete/model. Also I asked the model to stand against a white backdrop and I airbrushed it out, I asked the model to pose using catalogue modeling as inspirtation, I showed them some research and evidence off Google.

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Photoshoot - #6
DATE - Monday 3rd November 2014
SETTING - My house, Studio, against a white wall
LIGHTING - Camera Flash
PROPS -umbrella

IDEAS - Get my gradmother to hold an umbrella and pose while I take some decent images. Photograph my nephew in the frog hat that I purchased from Ebay two days ago. I can surround him in blankets to get a more baby effect. Also put the england flag on the floor on my rug and lay the baby on the middle of the flag, dressed dapper.

WHAT I DID - I placed the baby blankets on the bed and placed my nephew on there. While he was wiggling around I photographed him in his frog hat, I liked the finished shot of when he covered his one eye and looked at the camera directly with the other. He looked cute so I went on to do the England theme photoshoot. Then I placed the baby on the England flag on the rug while he had a change of clothes. I shot him in sporty, cute, fashionable tracksuit for the catalogue. I then photographed my grandmother holding a geisha umbrella that I purchased from a market. She wore nice wooly clothes, and I brushed her hair over. I shot the image from the front vantage point to get her portrait. I airbrushed the image on Picnik.com and used the Bloom effect. I liked the end results.



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Photo Progression 

These are the evolution of my photographs. I used Ribbet.com to edit and finalise my photos.

PHOTOSHOOT  #2

PHOTOSHOOT  #1

A Studio Set-up

When I work with two lights a reflector it helps to add more light.

I use this to bounce one of the lights back to the object. 

Reflectors come in a variety of shapes and sizes and they all have different results.

An example of a simple set up; 

Lighting
The main light has to be on the subject but out of sight, so quite close and using a softbox makes the light appear softer and makes the shadows less hash. It also it gives the eyes a nice effect.
 

Backdrop
Many Backdrops are made a large roll of paper. They come in all sorts of sizes and colours. Support poles are used to strongly hold the backdrop still. Also a large black sheet could be used because it absorbs light nicely or maybe a white painted wall that can be edited out later.

Reflector
Using a reflector I can bounce light back onto the subject save using more lights and power.

Model
A model or an object can be used as the main subject, this we be the main focus.


Camera
Connecting the camera first to the studio lights using a sync cable or with wirless triggers. In this mode the best setting could be manual.

ACME Catalogue

This is my photograph of a fashion model. I first got some close up photos and this turned out one of the best. The lighting was great, it was coming from a strong garden light at night, from the front of the models face. You can see the model wearing makeup including eyelashes and a dress from the catalogue. This shows how natural girls can also be glamourous. The hair is pretty basic just neat and big with darker highlights than the real models hair. I used Ribbet.com to edit my photographs and I loved this finished image. The photo is somewhat symmetrical to show a more attractive photo. There are no lines or shapes, and I shot the picture on intellegent mode. I wanted the texture of the photograph to be quiet soft and beautiful to show off the products and glorify the model. What I love about the image is that it turned out so well and looks similar to a VOGUE or ALEXANDER MCQUEEN photoshoot. The only weakness I know of is the right eyelash I wish was stuck more down or I could of helped this by editing the eyeliner a bit darker to blend it in. I shot this image with a direct aproach meaning I took the image straight on. My intention was to sell the makeup products for the magazine. Most of the image is quiet sharp to stand out, however the makeup is airbrushed and blurred. The image has a shallow depth of field and I used a smallish aperture. I brightened my image firstly, then airbrushed the blemishes, then boosted the colour, added the filter effect, then sharpened and saved my image. Im happy how it turned out overall.

This image is of a female model wearing a leather bomber jacket with a hood, sunglasses and jewellery all from the catalogue. The model is brightened up with no real tone colour for the skin, to make the products stand out a lot more. The photos where taken from a front vantage point and I got the model to stand and pose. I edited this image on Picnik.com and used auto-fix, colour boost, airbrush and sharpen. I like this image because it sells the product and fits the purpose of a catalogue, however the only weakness I feel is I should have toned the skin down a little bit more and got more of the jacket in because you can only see a certain amount of it. I do like how I got the sunglasses from the front view and left side in the photos. The value of the photograph is quiet light, the compostition of the photograph was quiet easy to put together. I took this on aperture setting so I could focus entirely on the subject and objects.

In this photograph I have captured a young girls fashion. The items seen are for sale. The photograph is in black and white, and airbrushed. The subject has glasses on her head with earings and also advertising a dress. I like this image because I rotated it a little to add more interest. The photo is taken from the front perspective but I twisted the camera a little bit. I stood the model infront of a white wall so its easier to airbrush out, however a little weakness i've noticed is a little bit of the wall is still in view however its not really noticeable. There are shapes on the dress of flowers that were in colour but I changed it all to black and white to show a good shoot. Another bad feature I can see is that the dress is not completly in full view, if I was to reshoot it I would of got more the dress in. The quality of the photograph came out very well.

This photoshoot was inspired by Lady Gaga's Alejandro photoshoot but with my twist. I made them all in black and white like the original photograph. I put hair extensions on the model, a head peace that should of been a bird, running makeup, I used a religous cross for more meaning. I edited them quiet under exsposed to show mystery and to give it a gothic fashionable look. I highlighted the models face using a lighting technique with an aiming bulb. I gave the photos colour boost and softened it. I then sharpened the overall image. I like how the three photographs works well as a one. I dont like however how the middle photograph the models hand is quiet blurry, I should of sharpened that and been more careful when editing. The model is advertising eyelashes and bracelettes, and a dark stripey top. The intention of this photograph was to sell the accessories. Another thing that annoyed me was the noise of the photographs, I wish they were less noisier, because they kind of make the image look rubbish quality and cheap. Next time I will let more light into the camera using aperture, shutter setting and ISO to get better lookin photographs.

This was a nice photograph to shoot because of the amount of natural light coming in through the window. It made my photograph very nice quality, that appears soft. The image is of a girl model lying on a pillow that sticks to animal print that shows its a fashionable picture. She is wearing a top and necklaces with her hair blowing on the pillow. The purpose of the photograph was to sell these products. I edited them on Picnik.com and I used airbrush, colour boost, goofify, soften, sharpen, and auto-fix (for exposure and contrast etc.) What I like about the image is the quality and the beauty of the model. She looks good in wearing the clothes which is ideal for selling the products.

The only weakness I can see is not much of her entire outfit in the photograph, which would of been better. Next time I would shoot from a further distance to get more in the picture. I used Aperture to concentrate or focus, on her face with her clothes in range. I am happy with this image.

This photo was JD Sports inspired, I used adidas and nike as the most noticed sport brands for urban people. This catalogue would use this to show we sell sport clothing. I edited it on Picnik and I used a galaxy star effect, and colour boost. Also I softened the picture in places, sharpened the final picture, and airbrushed bits of the model. I put the model against a white wall, which I was inspired from by my mind maps I made.

The things I love about the image is her facial expression and body language, how the model turns her body to show shape, and her face looks rude attitude. A downside to the photography is some of the wall still on show, where I could of airbrushed or wrinkle removed the wall away.  Also I might of filtered the yellow out of the image and replace it with more clinacly white walls, because it makes it more clean. Im proud of this image.

I was inspired to do a Lara Croft photoshoot, that I followed through with my mind map ideas. I first got the model ready clothes, makeup and poses. Then I shot the model and edited the final best images on Ribbet. What I love about the photo is the resemblence to Lara Croft. I love how the person looking at the photo is involved, because the model has got the viewer at gunpoint. I also secretly, edited the blood on from the nose and lip using a red tint colour on Ribbet. The only bad thing about this image is the houses in the background of image 1, where that could have been blurred more or whitened out. The catalogue would sell this outfit as a costume or casal ware. (The gun is not for sale.)  I put the photos together using a collage. I used an aperture on the left photo to get the model in focus and the background faded out more. I shot the second photo on intellegent mode.

This image is of a model advertising a furr coat. The photograph allows the viewer to see the texture of the coat up-close. The models face is morehidden to show how the coat can look on anyone. The black background wasnt important so I edited that out. All I did on this photo was edit the filter which was (cross process) then I sharpened it and blanked out the background. I used my camera flash as the lighting because this was enough exsposure for the model.  I was inspired a little bit by iconic females such as Marilyn Monroe and Betty Boop. Lady Gaga's album FAME also helped influence my ideas. I like this image and I wouldnt change anything apart from maybe a little more of the coat on show. My model turned her hair down and to the side to show a secretive body language, and kind of hide her face, that worked. I like how the composition worked well and it all came together.

I took this photograph from above, the central focus was of the models body in the black and white dress. I wrapped the tissue around the model and it took ages but this image was a happy photo. I like that there is a theme of lines that I planned to portray, such as in her dress and the lines from the tissues all over the image.

I tweeked the photograph on Ribbet, where I altered the exposure and the sharpness. I also really airbrushed the model to show softness, that went well with the tissue. I also used silver screen, that allowed to take some colour out of the image and give it a photoshoot, clean look to it.

The overall texture of the image seems soft from the tissue, and the model is photographed from above to give it a lying down, relaxing feel to it. The purpose of the photograph was to sell the black and white dress. The makeup went with it because of the strong black lined makeup. The only thing I would of liked to done with this photograph is getting the models head lower in the 
 photograph to allow area for some empty space.

This image shows the catalogue sell baby clothes.
This photograph is of a baby in the typical baby blue colour in clothes. He is wearing a green frog hat that stands out straight away, ive done this by brightening the hat and using colour boost on it on Ribbet. I airbrushed his face just to make it appear more softer and baby fresh. The babys eye is in the center of the image and the hat makes up for the top half, advertising the product. I like this image because its soft and baby looking, its cute and shows the hat well. The thing I would of wish I would of changed is the brigtness of the babys face, even though its advertising the hat, it would make the image alot cuter. I used the aperture setting on this photograph to get a shallowish depth of field. Its kind of like a portrait yet concentrating more on the babys hat. Its colourful and its fun, taken from the front perspective, with the baby lieing down.

This is a photograph of a baby I took lying on an England flag. Its an iconic flag and shows the English brand of clothing. The colours are bright and vivid which also attract attention, I edited this with Ribbet, I used colour burst and increased the exposure. I used a vignette effect for around the edges to blur it out a little, also drawing more attention the center of the image. The photograph was taken from above looking over the baby. I used colour burst to add vividness and sharpened and airbrushed areas. This is good because It shows the fashion for the catalogue and these products could be sold. I like this because its cute and stylish, I like the colours and how great the image turned out for the catalogue. He is also in the center of the photograph to draw more attention to the clothes, also quiet symmetrical. The lighting was from a camera flash and I took the image on intellegent mode. If I was to redo the image I would of got more of the babys head and feet in just for neatness. Also I would of liked the baby to smile a little more, but I was happy with the overall composition. 

This photograph is of an English old woman, that was inspired by a geisha photoshoot. I used soft wool clothes for the model and an umbrella to go with the shoot. I took it from the front perspective and I airbrushed the image and added a 1960s filter to it on Picnik.com.

I made it soft to show how old age can still look beautiful and how they can glow. The products for sale is the Jumper in this image as its the main object peice.

The photograph contains lines from the umbrella and the texture of the coat is visible on the collar area of the item.

I like this image because the filter works well with the photo and model, I loved taking this image and wouldnt improve much apart from making the hands more the same colour as the face.